The Eisteddfod

I went to the Eisteddfod on Saturday - it was impossible to get up to North Wales earlier in the week. It seemed a bit flat to me, but then it was the end of the week. However, a number of people I met said they had had a very good week - and clearly the Eisteddfod had been successful in financial terms this year. That puts into some perspective the Grant Thornton report's conclusion that the Eisteddfod needed a lot more public money.

Yesterday the Rhondda's own Carolyn Hitt had an entertaining article on the Eisteddfod in the Western Mail. She pointed out:

ANOTHER Eisteddfod over and the three main ceremonies have been conducted - the Crowning, the Chairing and the Asking For More Cash. The third ritual didn't have quite as much pageantry as the other two, but it grabbed more headlines. The issue of safeguarding the future of Wales' premier cultural festival provokes a sensitive debate.

The English-speaking Welsh grumble what's in it for them, when the appeal for more public money is made. The Archdruid concedes the Eisteddfod needs public funding - which of course comes from monoglot pockets as well as Welsh-speaking ones - but he'd rather not be interviewed about it in English. Not the best approach when you are shaking the collection tin.

Carolyn rightly highlights the need for the Eisteddfod to appeal beyond the Welsh-speaking audience and do more to attract the monoglot English-speaking majority in Wales. I think that the Eisteddfod needs to modernise. I raised this issue in the debate on the Assembly's Welsh Language strategy Iaith Pawb (Everyone's Language) in July, pointing out that the Grant Thornton report itself identified various problems:

• the cash flow forecast is not linked to either an income and expenditure account or a balance-sheet
• the eisteddfod’s ability to stage a sustainable eisteddfod appears to be limited by the convoluted nature and differing influences of the decision-making process
• the eisteddfod is not financially viable in its current format.
• there appears to be an urgent need to review all the options for the future operation. This review will require the eisteddfod to consider whether major as well as minor changes to its shape, frequency, location and so on will provide the opportunity to meet its primary objectives in a sustainable way.

I pointed out:

We also know that the eisteddfod’s problems will get worse next year when several quangos will be abolished and quango alley disappears from the maes.

I concluded:

It is not a problem of having a Government grant; the problem is bigger than that. It is important to think about more fundamental questions. The Minister is right: there cannot be a blank cheque. It is important to look at the whole situation.

Even Cymdeithas yr Iaith's - The Welsh Language Society's - magazine Tafod y Ddraig said my speech was worth hearing (see page 15)!

The debate over whether the Eisteddfod should go to Liverpool in 2007 has taken a lot of airtime this week.

I agree with Dafydd Wigley - Liverpool should be actively considered. In fact, I think it would not only be good for the Eisteddfod to go to Liverpool in 2007, it would be a great promotional platform for Wales.

Leighton Andrews: Pan gefais i fy ethol i’r Cynulliad, nid oedd fy Nghymraeg i o safon ddigon uchel i’w siarad yn y Siambr. Felly, mae’n bwysig imi ddiolch i’m hathrawes Gymraeg, Elaine Senior. Yr wyf yn hapus i barhau fy addysg gan astudio’r Gymraeg. Mae hynny’n enghraifft o ddysgu gydol oes. Hoffwn ddiolch i’r rhai sydd yn fy helpu i ddysgu. Ni ddeallaf bawb sydd yn siarad Cymraeg yma, ond yr wyf yn hoff o wrando, weithiau, ar y Gymraeg sydd yn cael ei siarad yn y Siambr neu mewn pwyllgor, heb ddefnyddio clustffonau. Yn anffodus, credaf fod rhai pobl yn gwneud mwy o synnwyr yn y cyfieithiad.	Leighton Andrews: When I was elected to the Assembly, my Welsh was not of a high enough standard for me to speak it in the Chamber. Therefore, it is important that I thank my Welsh tutor, Elaine Senior. I am happy to continue my education by learning Welsh. That is an example of lifelong learning. I would like to thank those who are helping me to learn. I do not understand everyone who speaks Welsh here but I sometimes like to listen to the Welsh spoken in the Chamber or in committee, without using headphones. Unfortunately, I feel that some people make more sense in translation.
Mae llawer o foddau i ddysgu’r Gymraeg heddiw. Mae’n ddiddorol gweld pobl yn defnyddio’r Gymraeg ym maes technoleg. Mae’n ddefnyddiol darllen gwe-logiau yn y Gymraeg, er enghraifft. Mae erthygl bwysig ar y pwnc hwn gan Tomos Grace yn y cylchgrawn, Agenda.	There are many ways of learning Welsh today. It is interesting to see people using the Welsh language in the field of technology. It is useful to read weblogs, for example, in Welsh. There is an important article by Thomas Grace on this issue in the magazine, Agenda.
Heddiw, yr wyf am drafod sefyllfa’r eistedfod. Yr wyf wedi ymweld ag amryw o eisteddfodau. Yr wyf am weld yr eisteddfod yn cael ei chynnal yn y Rhondda ond byddai hynny’n anodd gan fod angen llawer o dir gwastad ar yr eisteddfod ac nid oes digon o dir o’r fath gennym yn y Rhondda.	Today, I would like to discuss the situation of the eisteddfod. I have visited several eisteddfodau. I would like to see the eisteddfod being held in the Rhondda but that would be difficult as the eisteddfod requires a great deal of level land and we do not have enough of such land in the Rhondda.
Yr wyf wedi darllen yr adroddiad gan Grant Thornton ar y sefyllfa ariannol. Mae Grant Thornton yn gwmni da, sydd yn dod o hyd i lawer o broblemau. Yr wyf wedi darllen yr adroddiad yn y Saesneg, felly credaf y bydd yn rhaid imi drafod yr adroddiad yn y Saesneg.	I have read the Grant Thornton report on the financial situation. Grant Thornton is a good company, which discovers many problems. I have read the report in English, and, therefore I feel that I must discuss the report in English.
Edrychwch ar enw’r adroddiad.	Look at the title of the report.
It is called the ‘Limited Scope Independent Financial Review’, which illustrates its limited nature; it was restricted to discussions with the eisteddfod.	Fe’i gelwir y ‘Limited Scope Independent Financial Review’, sy’n dangos ei natur gyfyngedig; fe’i cyfyngwyd i drafodaethau gyda’r eisteddfod.
Dywedodd yr adroddiad—	The report said that—
the cash flow forecast is not linked to either an income and expenditure account or a balance-sheet.	nid yw’r rhagolygon llif arian yn gysylltiedig â chyfrif incwm a gwariant na mantolen.
Dywedodd yr adroddiad—	The report said that—
the eisteddfod’s ability to stage a sustainable eisteddfod appears to be limited by the convoluted nature and differing influences of the decision-making process.	mae’n ymddangos y cyfyngir ar allu’r eisteddfod i gynnal eisteddfod gynaliadwy gan natur gymhleth a dylanwadau gwahanol y broses benderfynu.
Dywedodd yr adroddiad—	The report said that—
the eisteddfod is not financially viable in its current format. We also know that the eisteddfod’s problems will get worse next year when several quangos will be abolished and quango alley disappears from the maes.	nid yw’r eisteddfod yn hyfyw yn ariannol yn ei ffurf bresennol. Gwyddom hefyd y bydd problemau’r eisteddfod yn gwaethygu y flwyddyn nesaf pan fydd sawl cwango yn cael ei ddileu ac y bydd lôn y cwangos yn diflannu oddi ar y maes.
Dywedodd yr adroddiad hefyd—	The report also said that—
there appears to be an urgent need to review all the options for the future operation. This review will require the eisteddfod to consider whether major as well as minor changes to its shape, frequency, location and so on will provide the opportunity to meet its primary objectives in a sustainable way.	mae’n ymddangos bod angen adolygu pob opsiwn ar gyfer ei gweithrediad i’r dyfodol ar fyrder. Bydd gofyn fel rhan o’r adolygiad hwn i’r eisteddfod ystyried a fydd newidiadau mawr yn ogystal â newidiadau mân i’w ffurf, pa mor aml y mae’n digwydd, ei lleoliad ac yn y blaen yn rhoi’r cyfle iddi i gyflawni ei phrif amcanion mewn modd cynaliadwy.
Dyna’r broblem. Nid problem o ran cael grant gan y Llywodraeth yw hon; mae’r broblem yn fwy na hynny. Mae’n bwysig meddwl am gwestiynau mwy sylfaenol. Mae’r Gweinidog yn iawn: ni ellir cynnig siec wag. Mae’n bwysig edrych ar yr holl sefyllfa.	That is the problem. It is not a problem of having a Government grant; the problem is bigger than that. It is important to think about more fundamental questions. The Minister is right: there cannot be a blank cheque. It is important to look at the whole situation.